[86] Fox, Appendix, p. 33; Ralph, 869. The prosecution of Baxter for what was called reflecting on the bishops, is an instance of this. _State Trials_, ii. 494. Notwithstanding James's affected zeal for toleration, he did not scruple to congratulate Louis on the success of his very different mode of converting heretics. Yet I rather believe him to have been really averse to persecution; though with true Stuart insincerity he chose to flatter his patron. Dalrymple, p. 177. A book by Claude, published in Holland, entitled _Plaintes des Protestans cruellement opprimés dans le royaume de France_, was ordered to be burned by the hangman, on the complaint of the French ambassador, and the translator and printer to be enquired after and prosecuted. _Lond. Gazette_, May 8, 1686. Jefferies objected to this in council as unusual; but the king was determined to gratify his most christian brother. Mazure, ii. 122. It is said also that one of the reasons for the disgrace of Lord Halifax was his speaking warmly about the revocation of the edict of Nantes. _Id._ p. 55. Yet James sometimes blamed this himself, so as to displease Louis. _Id._ p. 56. In fact, it very much tended to obstruct his own views for the establishment of a religion which had just shown itself in so odious a form. For this reason, though a brief was read in churches for the sufferers, special directions were given that there should be no sermon. It is even said that he took on himself the distribution of the money collected for the refugees, in order to stop the subscription; or at least that his interference had that effect. The enthusiasm for the French protestants was such that single persons subscribed 500 or 1000 pounds; which, relatively to the opulence of the kingdom, almost equals any munificence of this age. _Id._ p. 123. [87] It is well known that the House of Commons, in 1685, would not pass the bill for reversing Lord Stafford's attainder, against which a few peers had entered a very spirited protest. _Parl. Hist._ 1361. Barillon says, this was "parce que dans le préambule il y a des mots insérés qui semblent favoriser la religion catholique; cela seul a retardé la rehabilitation du Comte de Stafford dont tous sont d'accord à l'égard du fond." Fox, App. p. 110. But there was another reason which might have weight. Stafford had been convicted on the evidence, not only of Oates, who had been lately found guilty of perjury, but of several other witnesses, especially Dugdale and Turberville. And these men had been brought forward by the government against Lord Shaftesbury and College, the latter of whom had been hanged on their testimony. The reversal of Lord Stafford's attainder, just as we now think it, would have been a disgrace to these Crown prosecutions; and a conscientious tory would be loth to vote for it.